Eric "EJ" Jackson (born March 3, 1964, in Warren, Ohio) is a world-champion freestyle kayaker, kayak designer, slalom kayaker, founder of Jackson Kayak, and a Professional Bass Tournament angler on the FLW Tour.
Contents
Eric "EJ" Jackson (born March 3, 1964, in Warren, Ohio) is a world-champion freestyle kayaker, kayak designer, slalom kayaker, founder of Jackson Kayak, and a Professional Bass Tournament angler on the FLW Tour.
Jackson has been world freestyle champion four times (1993, 2001, 2005, 2007), as well as Pre-World Champion in 2000 and 2004 and World Cup Champion in 2006. [1] In October 2009, Eric Jackson achieved second place at the freestyle kayak world championships in Thun, Switzerland. In 2014 Eric achieved what might be a world record by maintaining his status on the USA Kayak Team for 25 years straight. In 2015 he failed to make the USA Team, but in 2017 he re-qualified and is now on his 27th year on Team USA in total. Eric has been a member of the United States of America Kayaking Team, either in freestyle or in slalom, every year since 1989. Jackson competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona as part of the U.S. Olympic team, finishing 13th in the K1 event. [1] He is a two-time winner of the Everest award. [1] He is the author of 4 instructional books and 8 videos teaching many aspects of whitewater kayaking, including river running, playboating, rolling and bracing. His children Emily and Dane are also World Champion kayakers.
Eric has been noted for his ability to continue to win championships and other major events competing against much younger athletes.[2][3]. From 1997 until 2002, Jackson worked as a brand manager and designer for WaveSport. In 2002, WaveSport was bought by venture capitalists, David Knight was fired, and Jackson was demoted to just an athlete. At that time, there were no white water kayaks for children on the market, so Jackson designed one. After WaveSport’s new owners refused to make the boat designed for children Jackson had finally had enough. Unemployed, Jackson designed and made a new kids boat—The Fun 1. His wife recommended he start his own kayaking company.After spending many years designing kayaks for various manufacturers, Eric founded Jackson Kayak in October 2003. [2] [ better source needed ]
Eric was a competitive fisherman fishing the FLW Bass Tour (big leagues), and kayak fishing tournaments. [3] He recently wrote the rules for the first ever USA Kayak Fishing Team and is helping to organize the first Pan Am and World Kayak Fishing Championships under USA Bass Federation.[ citation needed ]
International Whitewater Hall of Fame Inductee as a “Champion"- 2008 World Paddle Awards Winner: Lifetime achievement category. 2015 Everest Awards Winner: 2006 and 2007 as a Champion Inducted into the International Hall of Fame for Kayaking, Biking, and Rowing at the Childrens’ Museum in Utica, NY- 2006. Jackson Kayak received the Governor’s Award for Trade Excellence in 2016 for exporting from Governor Haslam of TN. [4] He is a two-time winner of the Everest award. [5] He is the author of several instructional books and videos teaching many aspects of whitewater kayaking, including river running, playboating, rolling and bracing. His children Emily and Dane are also competitive kayakers.
Eric has been noted for his ability to continue to win championships competing against much younger athletes. [5] [6]
After spending many years designing kayaks for various manufacturers, Eric founded Jackson Kayak in October 2003. [7]
A kayak is a small, narrow human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Inuktitut word qajaq. In British English, the kayak is also considered to be a kind of canoe.
Steamboat Springs is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Routt County, Colorado, United States. The population was 13,224 at the 2020 census. Steamboat Springs is the principal city of the Steamboat Springs Micropolitan Statistical Area, and it is the largest city in northwestern Colorado.
A sea kayak or touring kayak is a kayak used for the sport of paddling on open waters of lakes, bays, and oceans. Sea kayaks are seaworthy small boats with a covered deck and the ability to incorporate a spray deck. They trade off the manoeuvrability of whitewater kayaks for higher cruising speed, cargo capacity, ease of straight-line paddling (tracking), and comfort for long journeys.
Whitewater kayaking is an adventure sport where a river is navigated in a decked kayak. Whitewater kayaking includes several styles. River running; where the paddler follows a river and paddles rapids as they travel. Creeking usually involving smaller, steeper, and more technical waterways. Creek boats tend to be short but high volume to allow for manoeuvrability while maintaining buoyancy. Slalom requires paddlers to navigate through "gates". Slalom was originally the only whitewater event to be in the Olympics but Kayak Cross - a new subcategory of slalom involving gates and more natural whitewater elements - featured in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Play boating involves staying on one feature of the river and is more artistic than the others. Squirt boating uses low-volume boats to perform special moves in whitewater features.
Wildwater canoeing is a competitive discipline of canoeing in which kayaks or canoes are used to negotiate a stretch of river speedily. It is also called "Whitewater racing" or "Downriver racing" to distinguish it from whitewater slalom racing and whitewater rodeo or Freestyle competition.
Erik Weihenmayer is an American athlete, adventurer, author, activist and motivational speaker. He was the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, on May 25, 2001. Due to this accomplishment he was featured on the cover of Time magazine. He completed the Seven Summits in September 2002, one of only 150 mountaineers at the time to do so, but the only climber to achieve this while blind. In 2008, he also added the Carstensz Pyramid thus completing the Eight Summits. Weihenmayer has also made noteworthy climbs up the Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite in 1996, and ascended Losar, a 2,700-foot (820 m) vertical ice face in the Himalayas in 2008.
Holme Pierrepont Country Park, home of The National Water Sports Centre is located in the hamlet of Holme Pierrepont near Nottingham, England and on the River Trent. It is used for many differen sports and has received investment which has enabled a major refurbishment of existing facilities as well as introduction of new facilities.
Canoe freestyle is a discipline of whitewater kayaking or canoeing where people perform various technical moves in one place, as opposed to downriver whitewater canoeing or kayaking where the objective is to travel the length of a section of river. Specialised canoes or kayaks (boats) known as playboats are often used, but any boat can be used for playing. The moves and tricks are often similar to those performed by snowboarders, surfers or skaters, where the athlete completes spins, flips, turns, etc. With modern playboats it is possible to get the kayak and the paddler completely airborne while performing tricks. The competitive side of playboating is known as freestyle kayaking.
Clay Wright is a professional whitewater kayaker and kayak designer. He designed a signature "Java" creek boat for Perception Kayaks. He has appeared in 50+ extreme or instructional kayak videos. Wright is a pioneer in creekboating and playboating. He has won many freestyle events and extreme races throughout the world including the first Green River Race in 1996.
Ken Whiting, is a Canadian former competitive whitewater kayaker. He won the 1997/98 World Freestyle Kayaking Champion, the 1998 Japan Open Champion, and a five-time Canadian National Champion in freestyle kayaking.
Creeking is a branch of canoeing and kayaking that involves descending very steep low-volume whitewater. It is usually performed in specialized canoes and kayaks specifically designed to withstand the extreme whitewater environment in which the activity occurs. In addition, the canoes and kayaks give the paddler improved performance and maneuverability needed to avoid river obstacles.
A kayak roll or Eskimo roll is the act of righting a capsized kayak by use of body motion and/or a paddle. Typically this is done by lifting the torso towards the surface, flicking the hips to right the kayak, and applying a small force by means of the paddle to assist the torso back over the boat.
Canoe Kayak Canada is the governing body of competitive canoeing and kayaking disciplines in Canada. The three specific disciplines represented are flatwater, whitewater and marathon. Canoe Kayak Canada officially replaced the name "Canadian Canoe Association" in 2005, although the former title is still used by the organization. The name change came about from a desire to include the kayaking discipline in the organization's name.
Jackson Kayak is a producer of kayaks, founded by its namesake, Eric "EJ" Jackson. After working with Wave Sport Kayaks as a team member and as a designer, Eric Jackson and business partner Tony Lunt formed Jackson Kayak in Rock Island, Tennessee in October 2003.
Thomas Bennett "Benn" Fraker is an American slalom canoeist who competed at the international level from 2004 to 2014. He finished sixth in the C1 event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Whitewater canoeing is the sport of paddling a canoe on a moving body of water, typically a whitewater river. Whitewater canoeing can range from simple, carefree gently moving water, to demanding, dangerous whitewater. River rapids are graded like ski runs according to the difficulty, danger or severity of the rapid. Whitewater grades range from I or 1 to VI or 6. Grade/Class I can be described as slightly moving water with ripples. Grade/Class VI can be described as severe or almost unrunnable whitewater, such as Niagara Falls.
Rush Sturges is an American professional whitewater kayaker, film maker, and musician.
Corran Descy Addison is a slalom canoeist, whitewater kayaker, surfer and surfboard designer. He is now based in Montreal, Quebec.
Canoeing – recreational boating activity or paddle sport in which you kneel or sit facing forward in an open or closed-decked canoe, and propel yourself with a single-bladed paddle, under your own power.
Bennett Smith is an American professional whitewater kayaker from Vestavia Hills, Alabama. He currently attends Auburn University. Smith is sponsored by several outdoor equipment companies, including Jackson Kayak.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)| Main disciplines | |
|---|---|
| Olympics | |
| Other disciplines | |
| ICF championships |
|
| Recreation | |
| Modern boats | |
| Traditional boats | |
| Techniques | |
| Equipment | |
| Venues | |
| Competitions | |
| Festivals | |
| Governing bodies | |
| Other organisations | |
| Media | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
